JP6942598B2 - Airbag deployment control system and airbag deployment control method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an airbag deployment control system and an airbag deployment control method, and more particularly to an airbag deployment control system and an airbag deployment control method suitable for a vehicle equipped with a seatbelt device and an airbag device.

It has become common for vehicles such as automobiles to be equipped with an airbag device for expanding and deploying an airbag in the vehicle in the event of a vehicle collision to absorb an impact generated on an occupant. The airbag device generally includes an airbag that is normally folded and expanded in an emergency, and an inflator that supplies gas to the airbag. A vehicle equipped with such an airbag device includes, for example, a collision detection sensor that detects a vehicle collision and an ECU (Electronic control unit) that transmits an ignition signal to an inflator based on the output of the collision detection sensor. , Is equipped.

In a vehicle equipped with an airbag device, the impact absorption capacity of the airbag varies depending on the conditions such as the physique of the occupant, the position of the occupant, the posture of the occupant, etc., so how to control the expansion and deployment of the airbag. Is an important technology in the field of airbag devices.

For example, Patent Document 1 describes an ignition timing predicting means that determines a collision based on an output from an acceleration sensor, predicts the timing at which the occupant's head reaches a predetermined position, and outputs an ignition signal, and an ignition timing predicting means in front of the vehicle. It is composed of an expansion force control means for outputting a control signal for controlling the expansion force of the airbag based on the position of the occupant's head from a predetermined reference position, and an inflator provided with a plurality of lightning tubes. It is characterized in that the ignition modes of a plurality of lightning tubes provided in the inflator are controlled based on the ignition signal from the ignition timing predicting means and the control signal from the expansion force control means, and the expansion speed and timing of the airbag are controlled. The occupant protection device is disclosed.

Further, Patent Document 1 also discloses that the expansion force control means creates a signal for controlling the expansion speed of the airbag based on the output signals from the seat front-rear position sensor, the reclining angle sensor, and the seatbelt pull-out amount sensor. Has been done.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-236268

By the way, the invention described in Patent Document 1 was devised to solve the problem that the head of the occupant does not hit the airbag when the airbag is in the fully expanded and deployed state. Therefore, it is necessary to predict and control both the moving position of the head and the maximum expansion / deployment timing of the airbag, and it is necessary to process a complicated calculation in a short time by using a plurality of control parameters. There is. Further, since a plurality of sensors are required to acquire a plurality of control parameters, problems such as an increase in the weight of the vehicle body and a rise in the price may occur.

The present invention has been devised in view of such a problem, and provides an airbag deployment control system and an airbag deployment control method capable of controlling the expansion and deployment of an airbag based on the belt withdrawal amount of the seatbelt device. The purpose is to do.

According to the present invention, an airbag device including an airbag that expands and deploys in front of an occupant in the event of a vehicle collision, a seat belt device including a belt that restrains the occupant on a seat, and a withdrawal amount that detects the withdrawal amount of the belt. The control device includes a detection sensor, a collision detection sensor that detects a vehicle collision, and a control device that transmits an expansion / deployment signal to the airbag device based on the output of the collision detection sensor. When the collision signal is received from the sensor, the airbag is expanded and expanded when the withdrawal amount of the belt is equal to or more than a predetermined first threshold value α, and the withdrawal amount of the belt is less than the first threshold value α. The airbag is controlled so as not to be expanded and expanded, and then the belt is pulled out in a state where the airbag is not expanded and expanded, and the withdrawal amount of the belt is equal to or higher than a predetermined second threshold value β. Provided is an airbag deployment control system characterized in that the airbag is controlled to expand and deploy in certain cases.

The control device determines whether or not the belt is pulled out without expanding and deploying the airbag based on any one parameter of the pull-out amount, the pull-out speed, or the pull-out acceleration of the belt. You may. Further, the control device may determine that the belt has been pulled out when the parameter exceeds a predetermined set value.

Further, the control device completes the airbag when the withdrawal amount of the belt is equal to or more than the first threshold value α and the withdrawal amount of the belt is less than the predetermined third threshold value γ. When the withdrawal amount of the belt is equal to or greater than the third threshold value γ, the airbag may be expanded and expanded so that the internal pressure becomes lower than that of the perfect state.

Further, according to the present invention, when a vehicle collides, the airbag of the airbag device is expanded and expanded when the withdrawal amount of the belt of the seatbelt device is equal to or more than a predetermined first threshold value α, and the belt is pulled out. When the amount is less than the first threshold value α, the airbag is not expanded and deployed, and then the belt is pulled out without expanding and deploying the airbag, and the withdrawal amount of the belt is Provided is an airbag deployment control method characterized in that the airbag is expanded and deployed when it is equal to or higher than a predetermined second threshold value β.

The airbag deployment control method determines whether or not the belt is pulled out in a state where the airbag is not expanded and deployed based on any one parameter of the pull-out amount, the pull-out speed, or the pull-out acceleration of the belt. You may try to do it. Further, the airbag deployment control method may determine that the belt has been pulled out when the parameter exceeds a predetermined set value.

Further, in the airbag deployment control method, when the withdrawal amount of the belt is equal to or more than the first threshold value α and the withdrawal amount of the belt is less than the predetermined third threshold value γ, the airbag is provided. The airbag may be expanded and expanded to a perfect state, and when the withdrawal amount of the belt is equal to or greater than the third threshold value, the airbag may be expanded and expanded so that the internal pressure is lower than that of the perfect state.

According to the airbag deployment control system and the airbag deployment control method according to the present invention described above, the expansion and deployment of the airbag is controlled based on one control parameter (belt withdrawal amount), so that a complicated calculation is performed. It is not necessary to do this, and the load of arithmetic processing can be reduced. Further, in the present invention, since other control parameters such as a seating sensor and a position sensor are not required, the number of sensors to be arranged can be reduced, and an increase in the weight of the vehicle body and an increase in the price can be suppressed. ..

It is a flow figure which shows the airbag deployment control method which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the airbag deployment control method shown in FIG. 1, (A) shows the case of a collision event A, and (B) shows the case of a collision event B. It is an overall block diagram which shows the airbag deployment control system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, (A) shows the initial state, (B) shows the belt wearing state. It is an overall block diagram which shows the airbag deployment control system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, (A) shows the case of a collision event A, (B) shows the case of a collision event B. It is explanatory drawing of the airbag deployment control method shown in FIG. 1, (A) is the case where the airbag deployment off state is maintained after a collision event C, and (B) is the case where it is switched to the airbag deployment on state after a collision event C. , Is shown. It is an overall block diagram which shows the airbag deployment control system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, (A) shows the case of a collision event C, (B) shows the case of switching to an airbag deployment on state after a collision event C. ing. It is a flow figure which shows the airbag deployment control method which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the airbag deployment control method shown in FIG. 7, and shows the case of a collision event D. It is an overall block diagram which shows the airbag deployment control system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, and shows the case of a collision event D.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9. Here, FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing an airbag deployment control method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 2A and 2B are explanatory views of the airbag deployment control method shown in FIG. 1, in which FIG. 2A shows a collision event A and FIG. 2B shows a collision event B. FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram showing an airbag deployment control system according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which (A) shows an initial state and (B) shows a belt-mounted state. FIG. 4 is an overall configuration diagram showing an airbag deployment control system according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which (A) shows a collision event A and (B) shows a collision event B.

As shown in FIGS. 3A to 4B, the airbag deployment control system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an airbag 21 that is expanded and deployed in front of the occupant 11 in the event of a vehicle collision. The airbag device 2, the seatbelt device 3 including the belt 31 that restrains the occupant 11 to the seat 12, the withdrawal amount detection sensor 4 for detecting the withdrawal amount of the belt 31, and the collision detection sensor 5 for detecting the collision of the vehicle. A control device 6 that transmits an expansion / deployment signal to the airbag device 2 based on the output of the collision detection sensor 5 is provided.

As shown in the figure, when this system is adopted in the driver's seat, the airbag device 2 is arranged in the steering wheel 13. Although not shown, when this system is adopted in the passenger seat, the airbag device 2 is arranged in the instrument panel. The airbag device 2 includes an inflator (not shown) that supplies gas to the airbag 21. Therefore, the expansion / deployment signal transmitted to the airbag device 2 is specifically an ignition signal for operating the inflator.

The seatbelt device 3 is, for example, a retractor 32 that winds up the belt 31, a guide anchor 33 that guides the belt 31 into the vehicle, a buckle 34 arranged on the side surface of the seat 12, and is inserted into the belt 31 and fitted into the buckle 34. It includes a tongs 35 to be worn and a belt anchor (not shown) for fixing the tip of the belt 31 to the vehicle body.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the occupant 11 is not seated on the seat 12, and the belt 31 is completely wound up (the belt 31 between the belt anchor and the retractor 32 is not loosened). ) Is the initial state (belt withdrawal amount P = 0). Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, the state in which the occupant 11 is seated on the seat 12 and the belt 31 is attached (the state in which the tongs 35 are fitted to the buckle 34) is the state in which the occupant 11 is attached to the belt (belt withdrawal amount P = Ps). ).

The withdrawal amount detection sensor 4 is, for example, a sensor arranged on the retractor 32 and detecting the rotation speed of a spool (not shown) that winds up the belt 31. Such a sensor includes, for example, a ring that rotates in response to the rotation of the spool, and a calculation unit that counts the number of rotations of the ring. The withdrawal amount detection sensor 4 may employ a sensor having another configuration as long as it can detect the rotation speed of the spool.

The collision detection sensor 5 is, for example, a satellite sensor arranged on the vehicle body. The satellite sensor is a sensor that detects the impact generated on the vehicle body. When a vehicle collides, the collision detection sensor 5 detects an impact value generated on the vehicle body and transmits it to the control device 6. As the collision detection sensor 5, another commercially available sensor can be used.

The control device 6 is, for example, an ECU (Electronic control unit) arranged in an instrument panel. The control device 6 is electrically connected to the collision detection sensor 5, and transmits an expansion / deployment signal to the airbag device 2 when the impact value transmitted from the collision detection sensor 5 is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold value. .. The term "electrically connected" includes both a wired connection and a wireless connection.

The control device 6 is also electrically connected to the withdrawal amount detection sensor 4. The control device 6 calculates the withdrawal amount of the belt 31 (belt withdrawal amount P) based on the rotation speed of the spool transmitted from the withdrawal amount detection sensor 4, and expands and deploys the airbag 21 based on the belt withdrawal amount P. To control. Hereinafter, the airbag deployment control method according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In the airbag deployment control method according to the first embodiment of the present invention, when a vehicle collides, the airbag 21 is expanded and deployed when the belt withdrawal amount P is equal to or higher than a predetermined first threshold value α, and the belt withdrawal amount is increased. When P is less than the first threshold value α, the airbag 21 is not expanded and expanded, and then the belt 31 is pulled out without expanding and expanding the airbag 21, and the belt withdrawal amount P is predetermined. When the second threshold value β or more, the airbag 21 is expanded and expanded, and when the belt withdrawal amount P is less than the second threshold value β, the airbag 21 is not expanded and expanded.

In the belt retracted state (Step 1), as shown in FIG. 3 (A), the state in which the belt 31 is not attached, that is, the state in which the belt 31 is completely wound is set as the initial state, and the belt is pulled out at this time. The belt withdrawal amount P = 0 is set with the amount P as a reference value.

In the belt-mounted state (Step 2), as shown in FIG. 3 (B), the occupant 11 is seated on the seat 12, the state in which the belt 31 is worn is in the belt-mounted state, and the belt withdrawal amount P at that time is defined as Ps. do. As shown in FIG. 2A, the belt withdrawal amount Ps in the belt-mounted state is included in, for example, the illustrated belt-mounted region. The lower limit value Pf of the belt wearing area is set assuming a small occupant (for example, 5% tile of an adult female), and the upper limit value Pm of the belt wearing area is set assuming a large occupant (for example, 95% tile of an adult male). ) Is assumed. The range of the belt mounting area can be set arbitrarily.

When the belt withdrawal amount Ps is included in the belt attachment area, the control device 6 determines that the occupant 11 is in the state of wearing the belt 31, and the belt withdrawal amount Ps is not included in the belt attachment area. In this case, it can be determined that the occupant 11 is not wearing the belt 31. Therefore, in the airbag deployment control method according to the present embodiment, the seating sensor for detecting whether or not the occupant 11 is seated on the seat 12 and the position sensor for detecting the position of the seat 12 can be omitted.

When the collision detection sensor 5 detects a collision in the belt-worn state (Step 3), the control device 6 determines whether or not the belt withdrawal amount P is equal to or greater than the first threshold value α (Step 4). Here, as shown in FIG. 2A, the first threshold value α is set to a value larger than the upper limit value Pm of the belt wearing region. For example, the first threshold value α is set between the upper limit value Pm + 30 to 100 mm.

As shown in FIG. 2A, when the belt withdrawal amount Pa in the collision event A is equal to or higher than the first threshold value α, the airbag 21 is expanded and expanded as shown in FIG. 4A (A). Step5). At this time, as shown in FIG. 4A, the airbag 21 is fully deployed (expanding the airbag to a perfect state). In the present specification, expanding and deploying the airbag 21 is referred to as "airbag deployment on".

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2 (B), when the belt withdrawal amount Pb in the collision event B is less than the first threshold value α, the airbag 21 is expanded and expanded as shown in FIG. 4 (B). Do not let (Step 6). In the present specification, not expanding and deploying the airbag 21 is referred to as "airbag deployment off".

That is, in the airbag deployment control method according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4A, when the amount of forward movement of the occupant 11 at the time of a vehicle collision is large, a large load is already applied to the occupant 11. Since it has occurred, the airbag 21 is immediately expanded and deployed. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the amount of forward movement of the occupant 11 at the time of a vehicle collision is small, it is considered that the occupant 11 is not heavily loaded, and thus this is considered to be a minor collision. At the stage, the airbag 21 is prevented from expanding and expanding.

Next, in the state where the airbag deployment is off (Step 6), it is determined whether or not the belt withdrawal change amount ΔP exceeds a predetermined set value ε (Step 7). Here, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 6A, it is assumed that a collision event C occurs in which the belt withdrawal amount P at the time of a vehicle collision is Pc.

Since the belt withdrawal amount Pc <first threshold value α, the airbag deployment is off. When the belt 31 is further pulled out from this state, it means that the occupant 11 is moving forward, so it may be better to expand and deploy the airbag 21.

Therefore, the control device 6 calculates how much the belt 31 is pulled out from the belt pull-out amount Pc at the time of a vehicle collision based on the signal of the pull-out amount detection sensor 4. The amount of change in the belt 31 pulled out after the vehicle collision is referred to as the amount of change in the belt withdrawal ΔP. When the belt withdrawal change amount ΔP does not exceed the set value ε, as shown in FIG. 5 (A), the airbag unfolding off state in which the airbag 21 is not expanded and unfolded is maintained (Step 8).

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the belt withdrawal change amount ΔP exceeds the set value ε, the belt withdrawal amount P (here, the belt withdrawal amount Pc + the belt withdrawal change amount ΔP) is predetermined. It is determined whether or not it is equal to or higher than the second threshold value β (Step 9). The second threshold value β is set to a value smaller than the first threshold value α. For example, the second threshold value β is set between the upper limit values Pm-30 to 100 mm of the belt wearing region.

Even when the belt withdrawal change amount ΔP exceeds the set value ε, if the total belt withdrawal amount P (belt withdrawal amount Pc + belt withdrawal change amount ΔP) is small, the load generated on the occupant 11 is small. It is considered that the airbag 21 does not need to be expanded and deployed.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, even when the belt withdrawal amount P at the time of a vehicle collision is small and the airbag deployment is set to the off state, the belt withdrawal change amount ΔP exceeds the set value ε and the entire belt is set. When the withdrawal amount P is equal to or greater than the second threshold value β, the airbag 21 is expanded and expanded (Step 10) to switch to the airbag on state. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6B, the airbag 21 is fully deployed (expanding the airbag to a perfect state).

On the other hand, even when the belt withdrawal change amount ΔP exceeds the set value ε, if the total belt withdrawal amount P is less than the second threshold value β, the airbag 21 is not expanded and expanded (Step 8). I try to keep the airbag off.

The above-mentioned set value ε is set, for example, between 30 and 100 mm. In the case shown in FIG. 5A, since the belt withdrawal amount Pc is a value sufficiently smaller than the first threshold value α, the set value ε is set at a position not exceeding the first threshold value α. When the belt withdrawal amount Pc is a value close to the first threshold value α, the set value ε may be set at a position exceeding the first threshold value α.

In the present embodiment, in Step 7, it is determined whether or not the belt 31 is pulled out based on the withdrawal amount of the belt 31 (specifically, the belt withdrawal change amount ΔP) as a parameter. It may be determined whether or not the belt 31 is pulled out based on the speed and the pull-out acceleration. Also in this case, if the withdrawal speed or the withdrawal acceleration does not exceed the predetermined set value, the airbag deployment off state is maintained (Step 8), and if the withdrawal speed or the withdrawal acceleration exceeds the predetermined set value, the process shifts to Step 9.

According to the airbag deployment control method according to the first embodiment described above, the expansion and deployment of the airbag 21 can be controlled based on one control parameter (belt withdrawal amount), so that it is necessary to perform complicated calculations. Therefore, the load of arithmetic processing can be reduced. Further, since other control parameters such as a seating sensor and a position sensor are not required, the number of sensors to be arranged can be reduced, and an increase in the weight of the vehicle body and an increase in the price can be suppressed.

Next, the airbag deployment control method according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9. Here, FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing an airbag deployment control method according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the airbag deployment control method shown in FIG. 7, and shows the case of the collision event D. FIG. 9 is an overall configuration diagram showing an airbag deployment control system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and shows the case of a collision event D. The same Step1 to Step10 as the airbag deployment control method according to the first embodiment described above will not be duplicated.

The airbag deployment control method according to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 7 is when the belt withdrawal amount P is equal to or greater than the first threshold value α (Step4, Yes), and the belt withdrawal amount P is a predetermined third threshold value. When it is less than γ, the airbag 21 is expanded and expanded (fully expanded) to the perfect state (Step 5), and when the belt withdrawal amount P is equal to or more than the third threshold value γ, the internal pressure of the airbag 21 is higher than that in the perfect state. It is expanded and expanded (soft expanded) so as to be low (Step 12).

As shown in FIG. 8, the third threshold value γ is set to a value larger than the first threshold value α, and is set, for example, between the first threshold value α + 150 to 250 mm. Here, it is assumed that a collision event D occurs in which the belt withdrawal amount P at the time of a vehicle collision is Pd. Since the belt withdrawal amount Pd ≥ the first threshold value α, the airbag deployment is on.

At this time, when the belt withdrawal amount Pd ≥ the third threshold value γ, it means that the occupant 11 is largely moving forward as shown in FIG. 9, so that the airbag 21 is fully loaded. When deployed, the load applied to the occupant 11 by the airbag 21 may increase.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the belt withdrawal amount is distinguished from the full deployment in which the airbag 21 is expanded and deployed to the perfect state and the soft deployment in which the airbag 21 is expanded and deployed so that the internal pressure is lower than the perfect state. When P is equal to or greater than the first threshold value α and less than the third threshold value γ, full expansion is performed, and when the belt withdrawal amount P is equal to or greater than the third threshold value γ, soft expansion is performed.

The control device 6 performs a process (Step 11) of determining whether or not the belt withdrawal amount P at the time of a vehicle collision is equal to or greater than the third threshold value γ. Further, when the airbag 21 is fully deployed, the entire amount of fuel of the inflator is burned to generate gas, and when the airbag 21 is softly deployed, only a part of the fuel of the inflator is burned to generate gas. Should be generated.

Further, in the case of the airbag device 2 provided with a plurality of inflators, the airbag 21 is fully deployed by operating all the inflators, and the airbag 21 is softly deployed by operating some of the inflators. You may do so.

In the first embodiment and the second embodiment described above, the case where the seat 12 is a front seat (front seat) is described, but the present invention includes an airbag device 2 and a seatbelt device 3. It can also be applied to the rear seat (rear seat).

It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

1 Airbag deployment control system 2 Airbag device 3 Seatbelt device 4 Withdrawal amount detection sensor 5 Collision detection sensor 6 Control device 11 Crew 12 Seat 13 Steering wheel 21 Airbag 31 Belt 32 Retractor 33 Guide anchor 34 Buckle 35 Tongue

Claims (8)

An airbag device that includes an airbag that expands and deploys in front of the occupant in the event of a vehicle collision.
A seatbelt device that includes a belt that restrains the occupant to the seat,
A withdrawal amount detection sensor for detecting the withdrawal amount of the belt and
A collision detection sensor that detects a vehicle collision and
A control device that transmits an expansion / deployment signal to the airbag device based on the output of the collision detection sensor is provided.
When the control device receives a collision signal from the collision detection sensor, the airbag expands and expands when the withdrawal amount of the belt is equal to or more than a predetermined first threshold value α, and the withdrawal amount of the belt is the said. When the value is less than the first threshold value α, the airbag is controlled so as not to be expanded and deployed, and then the belt is pulled out without expanding and deploying the airbag, and the withdrawal amount of the belt is large. Controlled to expand and deploy the airbag when it is equal to or higher than a predetermined second threshold value β.
An airbag deployment control system that features this. The control device determines whether or not the belt is pulled out in a state where the airbag is not expanded and deployed based on any one parameter of the pull-out amount, the pull-out speed, or the pull-out acceleration of the belt. The airbag deployment control system according to claim 1. The airbag deployment control system according to claim 2, wherein the control device determines that the belt has been pulled out when the parameter exceeds a predetermined set value. The control device expands the airbag to a perfect state when the withdrawal amount of the belt is equal to or more than the first threshold value α and the withdrawal amount of the belt is less than the predetermined third threshold value γ. The first aspect of claim 1, wherein the airbag is expanded and expanded so that the internal pressure is lower than that of the perfect state when the withdrawal amount of the belt is equal to or more than the third threshold value γ. Airbag deployment control system. When a vehicle collides, the airbag of the airbag device is expanded and expanded when the withdrawal amount of the belt of the seatbelt device is equal to or more than the predetermined first threshold value α, and the withdrawal amount of the belt is less than the first threshold value α. If the airbag is not inflated and deployed,
After that, when the belt is pulled out without expanding and deploying the airbag and the withdrawal amount of the belt is equal to or more than a predetermined second threshold value β, the airbag is expanded and expanded.
An airbag deployment control method characterized by this. A claim characterized in that it is determined whether or not the belt is pulled out in a state where the airbag is not expanded and deployed based on any one parameter of the pull-out amount, the pull-out speed, or the pull-out acceleration of the belt. Item 5. The airbag deployment control method according to item 5. The airbag deployment control method according to claim 6, wherein it is determined that the belt has been pulled out when the parameter exceeds a predetermined set value. When the withdrawal amount of the belt is equal to or more than the first threshold value α and the withdrawal amount of the belt is less than the predetermined third threshold value γ, the airbag is expanded and expanded to a perfect state, and the belt is expanded. The airbag deployment control method according to claim 5, wherein when the withdrawal amount of the airbag is equal to or greater than the third threshold value, the airbag is expanded and expanded so that the internal pressure is lower than that in the perfect state. ..

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